SyncBackFree Vs. EaseUS Todo Backup Free

All data-storage devices fail, given enough time, so you need a backup plan in place for when it happens. You’re also, er, frugal and don’t want to pay for it, so this month we’re pitting two free file backup utilities against one another to find out which deserves your hard-earned download. Both utilities offer more advanced features in their paid version, but we are focusing solely on their free versions here. Let’s get it on!

Note: This article was originally featured in the July 2014 issue of the magazine.

AMD’s “Dual Graphics” aka Hybrid CrossFire lets you pair an APU with a GPU for improved performance, so we took it for a spin with a Kaveri APU and a budget GPU

We’ve already written quite a bit about AMD’s third-generation APU family, known as Kaveri. It’s a CPU with an integrated GPU, just like with Intel’s Core i7 parts that contain HD Graphics. The difference is that in the past, AMD paired a relatively weak GPU with the CPU, for predictably lame results. This time around, however, AMD has stepped it up a notch, and put the GPU on equal footing with the CPU, sticking an R7-series GPU inside the package, which is a bit more powerful than anything Intel has to on tap these days (on the GPU side, that is). Also, since AMD makes both CPUs and GPUs, it can one-up Intel by letting both pieces of silicon work together in a partnership dubbed Dual Graphics, which used to be known as Hybrid CrossFire. It’s a dual-GPU setup combining integrated and discrete graphics, and it could be a good way to give your integrated graphics a healthy boost, or it could be a total waste of money. This month, we decided to build a budget-oriented gaming machine to find out for ourselves what Dual Graphics is all about, and to see whether it’s actually useful, or just marketing BS.

Note: This article was originally featured in the June 2014 issue of the magazine.

Avoid the pitfalls and upgrade your computer like a pro

Building a new PC is a relatively easy task—you pick your budget and build around it. It’s not the same with upgrading a PC. No, upgrading an older box can be as dangerous as dancing Footloose-style through a minefield. Should you really put $500 into this machine, or just buy a new one? Will that new CPU really be faster than your old one in the real world? Are you CPU-limited or GPU-limited?

Note: This article was originally featured in the June 2014 issue of the magazine.

Acer joins the G-Sync party

We got Acer's XB280HK monitor in, which is the company's 28-inch 4K G-Sync unit. For now, it's the only 4K G-Sync unit that you can buy. G-Sync is a technology from Nvidia that sycronizes your monitor's refresh rate with your video card's refresh rate, which eliminates screen tearing (but it's not compatible with all GeForce cards). 4K resolution, at 3840x2160, is four times as many pixels as 1920x1080, so it needs a lot of horsepower to play a game. We tested the monitor on one of our GeForce GTX 980 video cards running Batman: Arkham Origins, a game that's optimized for Nvidia graphics. Your guide in the Youtube video is Tom McNamara, our Technical Editor.

Try your hand at Maximum PC's brutal 13th annual Geek Quiz

Our world is full of competitions and tournaments that favor impressive athletic feats and rippling abs. The winners get to wear fancy rings and get paid silly amounts of money to wear a shoe with a swooping logo on it. So where do geeks like us go if they prefer to flex the muscle of the mind? Where are the trophies for the legions of sons and daughters who tirelessly fix their parents’ computers and educate countless laypeople about the dangers and wonders of technology? Er, sorry, we don’t have any tangible rewards for you, either. But we do have a fun computer quiz!

Jimmy and Sean disagree on whether or not it was wise of Microsoft to purchase Mojang for $2.5 billion

Welcome to Maximum’s inaugural Maximum Debate article, a new opinion column where two Maximum PC editors duke it out over a specific topic. This time around, Online Managing Editor Jimmy Thang and Contributing Editor Sean Knight debate the merits of whether or not it was a good idea for Microsoft to purchase Minecraftdeveloper Mojang for $2.5 billion dollars.

Most people would never build their own small form factor PC, fill it with high-end hardware, liquid-cool it, then overclock it. Luckily, we’re not most people

The Mission The interest in small form factor (SFF) computing seems to have reached a fever pitch over the past few months, but boutique system builders tell us they’ve been selling an S-load of them for some time now. The reason for their popularity is not hard to understand—they pack all the firepower of a full-sized ATX machine but take up half the space due to clever engineering. It takes equally clever building to fit a full-sized video card, an internal power supply, storage devices, and even liquid cooling into such a tiny box. That's no small feat, and to be honest, it sounded like just the kind of challenge that we wanted to take on for Build It. The problem is, the micro-tower form factor hasn't been around very long, so it still has some kinks to work out. We've worked with several of these systems over the past few months, and the degree of usability varies quite a bit. However, Silverstone recently announced the Raven RVZ01, a case that seems to have the ease-of-use that we like; plus, the company has demo'd the chassis using a liquid-cooling system, which we found downright nifty. All we had to do was get our hands on one and go to work.

Note: This article was originally featured in the April 2014 issue of the magazine.

This is no joke; toasters are PCs too

This month's Rig of the Month is a bit of an oddball. It's no DotaBox or Weighted Companion Cube, but we still think it's pretty awesome. Anthony Febre was inspired when someone asked if he was running a toaster. It's not the most original insult, but it makes for an amazingly original case mod.

Showcasing the sexiest, most photogenic game screenshots this side of the Internet

We're short on submissions for this month's Graphics Porn so we've reached out to some more of the folks from r/GameScreens to supplement the gallery. We've got some amazong screens from Remember Me, Skyrim, Metro Last Light, Euro Truck Simulator, and more!

How we built a $30,000 PC

There’s really nothing wrong with excess. Who would complain, after all, of having an excess of money, an excess of vacation, or an excess of hugs? We say the same for this year’s Dream Machine, which makes absolutely no apologies for having an excessive amount of hardware.

Note: This article was originally featured in the September 2014 issue of the magazine.